Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1887-03-11
SOLDIERS DEPARTMENT.
SAVED BY HIS srEEp.
How One of SIorEans Troopers Escaped
From n Dctn nchmcnt of Union Cavalry.

How One OF Morgan's Troopers Escaped
From n Detachment of Union Cavalry.
John Morgan's cavalry was to gren
extent horsed upon thoroughbrcds
which accounts for tho almost super
natural forced marches and tn,
strangely ubiquitous character of thcst
Confederate troopers. At barely cigh
teen years of age, while / was attend
ing school at Sholbyville, Ky, letter
came to me from my boon companion
living on farm adjacent TO my
fathers blue grass pastures, nnnounc-
ing that cavalry company was being
raised about Lexington TO lend help
ing hand to Dixie, and that John Nor
gan was TO be its commander Said
my friend in n second letter: "My
father is opposing my going, and so,
no doubt, will yours oppose you, but l
have enlisted, and will be off with the
boys next Sunday. Won't you Gomez
Join us at Midway" Prof. Dodd
never knew exactly when or why left,
but on the next Monday morning | was
at Midway (without first going home)
in time to look longingly down the
iltAluElull lbUN lul lut SOlllltIS WllD, L
knew, were coming. Nor did / wait
long. My friend Ben Shelby was on
the lookout for me, and, much to my
surprise, my fathers stable boy was
with him, and had brought for my use
our Vandal tilly, three years old out
of Coralie by Lexington. Said Ben:
al did not ask your father for the FLY,
1,,t lVp,ri,rr l. ,,.n,,1l ,,nl lac, ;t,
company you are to keep, Josh and |
have borrowed her for the war;"
Pattie Curd l named her, for dear
friend left behind me Gn Mrs. Tevis's
school at Shclbyville.) At three years
old she was 152 hands high, u dark
blood bay, without white, and per-
feet counterpart of old Vandal him
self.
could not begin TO recount the mar
row escapes made sooner or later dur
ing the war, from wild pursuits, burn
ing bridges and midnight forages ON
the back of my faithful Pattie. i may
say that, whether she was pursuing or
pcrsued, she was rarely equallcd and
never excelled by any equine she was
ever called upon TO escape or TO over
take. When Morgan crossed the Ohio
river into the very heart of Uncle
SANS free soil, Patio swan the tur-
bulent river without sniff of obicc-
ton, and was among the first, in n lit |
tie band preferring TO cross that way,
to plant her hoof in the enemys coun-
try. Morgan was captured, his band |
cut to pieces, and the remnant of the |
boys were scattered and left to take |
care of themselves. How few of them |
escaped into Kentucky, and how much |
fewer would they have been but for
the bluegrass thoroughbreds they |
rode ! AT about daylight of the second
day after the rout and capture of my |
leader, having borne me safe away
from the Federal cavalry, Pattic was
1eisurely cantering along mud
dy Indiana road little less than
twenty miles from the Ohio. She
had been moving pretty much all
of the night before, and, though much
wearied, we were beginning to feel
that our release from very bad box
was near at hand. Ahead of us several
hundred yards cross-road from the
west intersectcd, at right angles, the
lane we We're following. Across the
bare hillside, filing out of the woods in
the dim gray of morning. as Pattie
pricked up her ears, / espied long
squad of Federal cavalry bearing down
upon the intersection of the roads, |
which l, too, was aiming at, and full |
two hundred yards nearer the point of |
common destination than myself. My |
first impulse was TO turn and fly back |
into the hostile country, but my only
place of security lay in the Kentucky
hills, which were outlined on the hori-
zon before me, and, after vague sem
sation that my deliverance was now or
never, quickly determined to place all
hope of safety upon the speed and en-
slurance of my matchless mare. Bracing
myself firmly in the saddle, Pattie and
/ were under full gallop before the
Yankees caught sight of us, but they
had the advantage in distance. l bent
forward to the very ears of the splen-
did animal. She seemed fully to appre-
ciate the situation. The Federals were
there on our account in search of
Morgan's stragglers. They We're on
the Qui cire, and soon had fixed pur-
pose-the same as ours-to reach the
crossroads first. As the race ap-
preached full headway, some of the
Federals halted in the rear and fired
several shots across the field, which,
thanks to a picket fence, left Patte and
me unscathed. One bullet struck II
post and sung close by our ears. The
firing was brief, for soon their own
men were between Pattie and the
shooters, and they could not continue
without serious danger to their friends.
Pattie reached the goal first and cleared
the cross-road at bound. Our pursu-
ers fairly howled as the gray-bay COM
bination shot by, almost within touch
ing distance. Desperation and SYM
pathy for my mare, together with
boundless confidence in her spirit and
her speed, caused me to utter defiant
rebel yell. 1t seemed to me that |
could feel the breath of the Federal
horses as Pattie cleared them like n
rocket. But | was in the lead, and
gained distance as the enemy turned
the corner On they camel Then it was
that / fully understood that the chief
characteristic of the thoroughbred horse
is not so much speed as bottom. For
in that Federal troop there was more
than one charger with speed equal to
my Pattic's, possibly thoroughbred or
two, but she outwinded them all, tired
as she was. For an uncomfortable
length of time they kept in close proX-
unity, but the race was one of enduI-
ance. One by one they dropped off,
and when one bullet, another and then
another whizzed far over our heads, |